1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coin stacking apparatus for use in a coin wrapping machine or the like, with the coin stacking apparatus being used for stacking coins, that have been conveyed in a coin passage one by one, in a row in a direction of thickness of the coins.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 13 shows a principal part of a conventional coin stacking apparatus. The coin stacking apparatus shown in FIG. 13 comprises a coin passage 1, a conveying mechanism 2, a coin stacking section 3′, and a coin feeding member 140.
The coin passage 1 serves to guide a plurality of coins C in a row in a direction of diameter of the coins. The conveying mechanism 2 serves to convey the coins C along the coin passage 1 by a conveying belt 24. The coin stacking section 3′ provided so as to correspond to an end portion of the coin passage 1 serves to stack the coins C that have been conveyed by the conveying mechanism 2, in a row in a direction of thickness of the coins. In this case, the coins C are conveyed in the coin passage 1 in a substantially horizontal direction to be stacked in the coin stacking section 3′ substantially vertically upward.
The coin feeding member 140 serves to sequentially stack coins C that have been conveyed to the end portion of the coin passage 1, in the stacking section 3′. The feeding member 140 has a plurality of tooth portions 142 arranged in a circumferential direction, and is in the form of a toothed roller rotatable clockwise in FIG. 13. Each of the tooth portions 142 has a push surface 144 formed on an upstream side with respect to a direction of rotation of the feeding member 140 and extending in a substantially radial direction, and a lifting surface 146 formed on a downstream side with respect to a direction of rotation and extending in a substantially tangential direction.
If the push surface 144 of the tooth portion 142 is pressed by a leading edge of a conveyed coin C, the coin feeding member 140 is passively rotated by a driving force applied to the coin C. The coin feeding member 140 lifts a trailing edge of the coin C having been already fed in the stacking section 3′, by the lifting surface 146 of the tooth portion 142 in accordance with rotation of the coin feeding member 140, so that a leading edge of a subsequently conveyed coin C can enter between lifted coin C and the feeding member 140. By repeating such an operation, a plurality of conveyed coins C are sequentially stacked in the stacking section 3′.
The coin stacking apparatus comprises a coin presser mechanism 151 for downwardly pressing an upper surface of an uppermost coin stacked in the stacking section 3′. The coin presser mechanism 151 has a lever 152 oscillatable around a shaft 155, and a contact roller 153 provided at a distal end of the lever 152.
The coin presser mechanism 151 also has a spring with a change point (not shown). The lever 152 on which the spring acts initially presses the uppermost coin downward via the roller 153, and after a predetermined number of coins are stacked in the stacking section 3′, this pressing is released and the lever 152 greatly oscillates clockwise to be retracted from the stacking section 3′.
In the above described conventional coin stacking apparatus, there are the following problems. First, as shown in FIG. 14, it is assumed that a length of the tooth portion 142 of the coin feeding member 140 (a dimension from a tip of the tooth portion 142 to the push surface 144 of a next tooth portion 142 on the right) is T. Then, in case of a large-diameter coin C shown in FIG. 14(a), assuming that the diameter of the coin C is d1, in theory, if (d1/2)<T is not established, the coin C falls down to the left side, so that the lifting surface 146 cannot lift the coin C.
On the other hand, in case of a small-diameter coin C shown in FIG. 14(b), assuming that the diameter of the coin C is d2, in theory, if T<d2 is not established, the feeding member 140 can not completely rotate until a leading edge of a subsequent coin C is capable of entering between a preceding coin C and the feeding member 140. Finally, in theory, coins cannot be stacked by action of the coin feeding member 140 unless (d1/2)<T<d2 is established.
Therefore, d1<2×d2 is established as conditions for the coins, so that the coin feeding member 140 cannot cope with both first coins and second coins having diameters at least twice diameters of first coins, in theory. A diameter range of coins capable of being smoothly stacked by an actual apparatus is narrower than the above described theoretical range. Thus, in the conventional coin stacking apparatus using the toothed roller type feeding member 140, there are problems with respect to an adaptable range of diameters of coins.